The Letter [From "Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate]
Drive Away
The characters of Daniel Handler's popular children's book series spring to life in this playfully macabre screen adaptation from director Brad Silberling. Contemporary scoring master Thomas Newman may launch the musical p... more »roceedings with the brief, Disney-esque flourish of "The Bad Beginning," but the sound of a needle being brusquely dragged across that record brings us to the composer's true intent: a teasing romp through occasionally dark, rhythmically charged musical corners. Employing his patent take on post-modern impressionism to a greater degree than he did in Finding Nemo, Newman gives a decidedly contemporary spin to the oft-cliched concept of children's music. His score is a an inviting fusion of his tense, ever-inventive, ensemble studio concoctions and a Euro-Goth sensibility inspired by the film's visual sense. Alternately bright and brooding, with a surprise at nearly every turn (not the least of which is "Loverly Spring," a full reprise of the score's creepily saccharine opening song), Newman's score is yet another tribute to his restless, seemingly boundless creativity. --Jerry McCulley« less
The characters of Daniel Handler's popular children's book series spring to life in this playfully macabre screen adaptation from director Brad Silberling. Contemporary scoring master Thomas Newman may launch the musical proceedings with the brief, Disney-esque flourish of "The Bad Beginning," but the sound of a needle being brusquely dragged across that record brings us to the composer's true intent: a teasing romp through occasionally dark, rhythmically charged musical corners. Employing his patent take on post-modern impressionism to a greater degree than he did in Finding Nemo, Newman gives a decidedly contemporary spin to the oft-cliched concept of children's music. His score is a an inviting fusion of his tense, ever-inventive, ensemble studio concoctions and a Euro-Goth sensibility inspired by the film's visual sense. Alternately bright and brooding, with a surprise at nearly every turn (not the least of which is "Loverly Spring," a full reprise of the score's creepily saccharine opening song), Newman's score is yet another tribute to his restless, seemingly boundless creativity. --Jerry McCulley
"When you know a score is written by Thomas Newman, you know you're in for something unusual, a score which does not conform to the cliched yet majestic sweeping themes by John Williams, it is in stark contrast to the quiet yet melodic compositions of James Horner, minus the dramatic inclination of Hans Zimmer and surely not as bright and cheery as Randy Newman. But Thomas Newman has established such a reputation for himself; quirky, unpredictable but so very interesting. Think the theme for Six Feet Under, the score to Finding Nemo, and the very Famous American Beauty.
On A Series of Unfortunate Events, Thomas Newman has captured the mood and setting of the film that you imagine thoughts which turn out exactly like that in the film. I know this because I have not seen the film yet. But I believed in Newman so much that I knew his score for this movie would be another masterpiece. So have the voters who nominated this as a contender in the race for Best Original Score.
Music-wise, Thomas Newman seems to have reused some basic stuff found in Finding Nemo but never too much (a couple of tracks sound familiar - listen to "In Loco Parents" and "Bad Beginning" and compare that to tracks in Finding Nemo). That probably simply reminds the listener that he/she is listening to a Thomas Newman CD. I am not disturbed by that at all. The score flows very well from start to finish but there are a couple of stand-outs such as the very joyful and original "The Marvelous Marriage" and the out-of-place but making perfect sense to the movie "Loverly Spring". The best track would have to be the end title - Drive Away - it is original and showcases Newman's idiosyncrasies perfectly.
If you liked Finding Nemo, you would be pleased with this soundtrack. You won't find anything too new, so don't expect that. But know that Thomas Newman is nothing like those from Disney, who first wrote and created the foundation for music in children movies. Thomas Newman breaks this boundary. In fact, Thomas Newman's score for Unfortunate Events is so different from the score of Beauty and the Beast that you simply cannot compare the two. Both did their job exceptionally well for the movie.
He introduces some dark undertones to the movie to highlight sinister behaviour or 'that something evil lurking beneath'. What I am most thrilled of is Newman's vastly improved use of percussion and unconventional use of instruments which sound so 'un-musical', but lend such a wonderful feel and sense to his composition. What can I say, this IS Thomas Newman.
Good CD."
Thomas Newman's captivating and perhaps best musical score
Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 05/01/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"When I watched "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," the only time I really noticed Thomas Newman's music was at the beginning and the end of the film. That is because the 2004 film starts off with the happy music of the happy world of a happy little elf of "Lovely Spring" (we only get a taste of that up top) before the harsh reality of the narrative descends upon the rest of the film ("A Bad Beginning"), and then ends with the captivating credit crawl designed by Benjamin Goldman and Todd Hemker where Newman's score accents the gorgeously stylized animation that makes for one of the best reasons to stick around and watch until the very end of a movie I have ever seen. If you want to know what music has been stuck in my head ever since when I am doing chores around the house then play the clip from "Drive Away," because that would be it.The fact that I did not really notice the music in between the start and finish of the film, which is where most of it takes place, does not dismiss Newman's compositions. Instead, it speaks to how well integrated they are in the film. This is not a film where we get a "Count Olaf's March" or where there are individual themes for each of the Baudelaire orphans. Instead of having the music carry the moment, Newman is content to have such things suggested: the plight of the children is captured by the sound of a music box in both "Baudelaire Orphans" and "VFD" (and this is not Harry Potter's music box either, so do not go there either for your musical reference from the history of cinema directed at the wallets and pocketbooks of young children).There are some lovely themes here, as in the piano pieces "Resilience" and "Letter That Never Came," each as subtle as the rest of the score and yet perfectly suited to the mood at those points in the narrative. If you are familiar with Newman's score for "American Beauty" or the theme song for "Six Feet Under," then you can see this work as a continuation along those same musical lines (e.g., "Hurricane Herman"). Ultimately, it is the rhythm of the music helping to move the tragic tale along that stands out most. Besides the optimistic voice at the beginning, there are no vocals, but rather a few sound effects added to spice things up (and fit into the developing rhythmic pattern of the music as well). Newman employs a variety of instruments throughout the score, such as the violin in "Verismilitude," the xylophone (?) in "Concerning Aunt Josephine," and the distorted horns of the "Woeful Wedding" and the manic accordion of "Marvelous Marriage," the latter being one of the few times that the music jumps to the forefront in the film. No wonder I was so surprised that it was not until listening to the soundtrack that I really noticed that Newman's score was so wonderful. Even more surprising given how often I play the final track that I give the rest of the album a listen.I expect that this original motion picture score is going to be nominated for an Oscar. I thought Newman deserved to win for "Road to Perdition," a film that was basically Conrad Hall's cinematography set to Newman's music, but only the late Hall won. It would be rather ironic if Newman did win for a score that was less central but equally important in this film. But for the time being, at least, I think this is his best score. Now, I have to go back and play "Drive Away" again while I clean up the latest in an unfortunate series of messes."
Great Score!!
Lawrance M. Bernabo | 02/07/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is an awesome score to an awesome movie! This has a lot of cool songs that just sound great. I love The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, and Taken By Surpreeze the most because they basically sound the same. Loverly Spring, Concerning Aunt Josephine, Hurricane Herman, One Last Look, The Letter That Never Came, Drive Away, and others. I would totally recommend you get this CD."
Funky and quirky
GuanoLad | Malvern, VIC Australia | 01/01/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Though the movie had quite a surprisingly slow pace, the acting (even Jim Carrey's multiple characters) and the stylised look to it really made it an excellent movie overall.
And what really made me enjoy the movie the most was the end credits sequence, where the soundtrack came into its own. An incredibly catchy use of unusual percussive and stringed instruments is used to incredibly creative effect to give the whole film an unusual edge that draws you in.
There's a definite Tim Burton-esque quality to the movie, but this music is certainly not like Danny Elfman, so it really helps make the movie stand alone.
Highly recommended. The whole soundtrack makes for great quiet background music when you're reading the Lemony Snicket novels."
A ray of light in the midst of the Baudelaires lives
GuanoLad | 12/21/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm a huge fan of the highly acclaimed series Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.I saw the movie twice and I LOVED IT!!Then I listened to the soundtrack and I just sat there with my mouth open in amazement at what I heard.There was the melancholy The Bad Beginning to the heartening The Reptile Room with it's snakey tunes and strange tropical sounds,same with Snakey Mesage which,I might add was a wonderful clip in the film.The upbeat The Marvelous Marriage was a real toe tapper and really caught your attention.The whole sountrack really expressed the feeling and mood of this amazing film.My personal favorite is the tear jerker
The Letter That Never Came. It's a beautiful work of music and it is mainly piano and so sad and haunting and beautiful and a was nearly brought to tears when I saw the scene and the music together.Thomas Newman really made a gem here and I strongly reccomend this extravagant piece of music and the phenomenal film that accompanies it."
Track Listings (29) - Disc #1
